SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota (AP) — Despite the drawn-out primary fight, Bill Clinton says he thinks Democrats will be able to “be together in the end.”

The former president campaigned in South Dakota Friday on behalf of wife Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Asked about her increasingly combative rival Bernie Sanders, Bill Clinton said that the party will come together, recalling the 2008 primary.

Bill Clinton said that after losing to President Barack Obama, his wife “pulled the party together and we won an election.”

He added that “it made a big difference to America. And that’s what we hope will happen again and we think it will.”

Hillary Clinton is just 90 delegates shy of clinching the Democratic nomination. But Sanders is pledging to take his insurgent campaign to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Join our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox